Past
The Jackals are a secretive and much maligned group of men and women who have been fighting a war only they understand for centuries. An off-shoot of the Ebonites, the Jackals were first formed by those that had failed the Test of the Ebon Stone. They had been touched by the entity trapped within, and they had failed, but survived. As the survivors slowly came together, they began to form an opinion on what had truly happened to them. The truth was that it was not they who had failed, but the entire Ebonite order. The Ebonite order was waiting for the Awakening, when the creature trapped within would be defeated. But they were wrong, if the Awakening occurred, the Dark God trapped inside would wreak unspeakable horrors upon the world and kill untold millions. The Jackals knew that there was only one thing to do. They had to stop the Awakening, by any means necessary.
The Jackals stooped to theft, assassination, and even occasional mass murder if they felt it would serve the purpose of stopping the Awakening. They were directly opposed to the Ebonites, who they felt were mere lackeys to the Dark God in the Ebon Stone. As time went on, their methods grew to include necromancy and their leadership became more certain that everyone else had been corrupted by the Dark God of the Ebon Stone and that they alone could stop its escape. Still, the Jackals were growing and were at the height of their power when the prophecy threatened to come true.
The Awakening was a trying time for many factions within the Burning Sands, but where most survived, the Jackals were utterly shattered. The Jackals had allied themselves to the Jinn Lord Kaleel, and when he was defeated, the Jackals were crushed with him. But far worse than their physical defeat was their spiritual defeat. The Awakening occured and the Dark God was defeated, and on that day the Jackals knew that they had not been the only ones that had known the truth. They had been manipulated and used by the Khayel and they had very nearly destroyed all of reality in their misguided effort to save it.
Present
The Jackals that survived the Awakening were a bitter and splintered people. Many of their greatest leaders had been killed and they had lost their sense of purpose. Many who had not died in the fighting simply faded away from the group, going back to being street thugs and crime bosses. Eventually, the Monkey Man took control of the Jackals, giving them a semblance of order, but the damage had been done and the vaunted loyalty and unity of the Jackals was broken.
Facing annihilation, the Jackals looked for allies, and found them in an old place that they had nearly forgotten. The Cult of Rhumal, fleeing from the Ivory Kingdoms, made its way to Medinaat al-Salaam. They too had suffered a humiliating and crushing defeat and needed time to recover. The two forces allied once again and began to recover their strength. Before the Jackals could solidify their power again however, the Ebonites took notice of their Rhumali allies who had gotten too confident and moved to crush them. The Monkey Man, knowing he could not stand against the Ebonites now, dropped all ties from the Cult, but the passing blow was still enough to nearly break the Jackals once more.
Hearing word of Rokugan and the Spider, the Jackals turned to less conventional allies, making inroads with Daigotsu and selling their information on the outside world for a good price. When word reached the Burning Sands of trouble in the Ivory Kingdoms, the old Jackals could feel the stirring of their ancient foe in the wind. They knew immediately that there was more to this event and began to take actions to stand against it. Several high ranking members of the Jackals, including the Monkey Man himself, travelled to Rokugan. Leaving the Jackals in the hands of Hadia and Talib. Two people that are diametrically opposed. Just a few years later the Monkey Man and Fatina returned, though the power of Talib and Hadia had both grown in their absence.
The death of the Monkey Man at the hands of the Ebonite Cassius was a terrible blow to the Jackals, who almost immediately fell upon one another in an attempt to gain command. Fatina struck first, securing the Soul of the Slayer and then warping even its foul magic in ways thought impossible before to create a beast that has never been seen before. If Hadia had not joined forces with a group of Rokugani Bloodspeakers that had infiltrated the city along with other rumored dark arts, Fatina would have won right there. After the Ebonite attack into the Sewers, the third leader in the war, Talib, was left devastated by the brunt of the fighting. With little force left, he decided to cut his losses and offered his services to Hadia, giving her a greater claim to legitimacy as the leader of the Jackals, though Talib’s less violent streak has put her at odds with her new lieutenant several times.
Future
Though the main Civil War within the city has come and gone, the bitter fighting of the Jackals continues and shows no sign of abating. For now many citizens of the city wish that the fighting in the sewers would end, so the ghul population would once again simmer. Those among the Order of the Ebon Hand however are content to let the fighting continue, because while the Jackals are focused on one another they are not focused on the people or the Ebonites.
Leaders
Lieutenant
Fatina has been known by many names over the years, and one by one they have disappeared, leaving only the creature known as Fatina behind. What is known is that she joined the Jackals shortly after the Awakening, she looked to be a young woman then. As years passed and everyone else grew old, Fatina retained her youth and vigor, and whispers about her true nature began to grow. Some claimed Fatina was an ageless Ashalan, but she lacked their tattoos, others claimed she was a Khadi, but although her ability to control ghuls is almost without equal, she does not show their general aptitude for magic or their particular brand of cruelty. The Monkey Man knew the truth of what she is, but now the old man is dead.
The Monkey Man’s death pushed Fatina’s own plans along faster than she would have liked. Still, she had been in the best position to capitalize and took the Soul of the Slayer for herself and began to use it against her enemies, making loyal servants, as well as a new general for her forces. Her motives are as well kept of a secret as her origin is, though few doubt her willingness to go to any length to achieve her goals to achieve rule of the Jackals.
Lieutenant
Hadia has been a rising star amongst the Jackals since her arrival merely ten years ago. One of the various scum and villains that finds their way into the Jackals occasionally, Hadia showed a talent for knife work, word play, and a thirst for power. Hadia quickly became the leader of her cell when she overthrew the previous commander of the cell who was seen by many to be weak. Though her actions were not seen kindly by the Monkey Man, he allowed her a chance to prove her worth to the Jackals as a leader. She was given a mission to strike at the Ebonites, to kill a Templar who had shown potential at becoming a Principle. With a unique flare, she put her new cell to work competently and proved her worth by personally executing the Ebonite Templar and delivering his head to the Monkey Man.
Shortly after that, the Monkey Man and his greatest lieutenants left for Rokugan, leaving the likes of Hadia to climb the ranks more and more in their absence. Using her carefully cultivated contacts, she discovered several of the other cells and in a bold move, began to give them orders in the absence of the Monkey Man. She would have taken the Jackals for herself, if not for the resistance of Talib and his orphans. Many of her attacks and gathering information were still directed at the Ebonites, but as time went on her attacks became more vicious and directed towards the populace once more, specifically the Ruhmal refugee camps that were coming into the city. She and her cells began taking part in rituals to which no others were invited, but where human sacrifices and dark rituals are rumored to occur.
As her war with Fatina grew, it became apparent that Hadia was not up to the task of defeating her stronger and more entrenched rival. Faced with annihilation, she turned to a secretive cult from Rokugan known as Bloodspeakers to shore up her defenses. The dark alliance between these two has been immensely powerful, as they share secrets, and begin to prepare for something greater, something that may win Hadia the war.
History
PastThe Jackals are a secretive and much maligned group of men and women who have been fighting a war only they understand for centuries. An off-shoot of the Ebonites, the Jackals were first formed by those that had failed the Test of the Ebon Stone. They had been touched by the entity trapped within, and they had failed, but survived. As the survivors slowly came together, they began to form an opinion on what had truly happened to them. The truth was that it was not they who had failed, but the entire Ebonite order. The Ebonite order was waiting for the Awakening, when the creature trapped within would be defeated. But they were wrong, if the Awakening occurred, the Dark God trapped inside would wreak unspeakable horrors upon the world and kill untold millions. The Jackals knew that there was only one thing to do. They had to stop the Awakening, by any means necessary.
The Jackals stooped to theft, assassination, and even occasional mass murder if they felt it would serve the purpose of stopping the Awakening. They were directly opposed to the Ebonites, who they felt were mere lackeys to the Dark God in the Ebon Stone. As time went on, their methods grew to include necromancy and their leadership became more certain that everyone else had been corrupted by the Dark God of the Ebon Stone and that they alone could stop its escape. Still, the Jackals were growing and were at the height of their power when the prophecy threatened to come true.
The Awakening was a trying time for many factions within the Burning Sands, but where most survived, the Jackals were utterly shattered. The Jackals had allied themselves to the Jinn Lord Kaleel, and when he was defeated, the Jackals were crushed with him. But far worse than their physical defeat was their spiritual defeat. The Awakening occured and the Dark God was defeated, and on that day the Jackals knew that they had not been the only ones that had known the truth. They had been manipulated and used by the Khayel and they had very nearly destroyed all of reality in their misguided effort to save it.
Present
The Jackals that survived the Awakening were a bitter and splintered people. Many of their greatest leaders had been killed and they had lost their sense of purpose. Many who had not died in the fighting simply faded away from the group, going back to being street thugs and crime bosses. Eventually, the Monkey Man took control of the Jackals, giving them a semblance of order, but the damage had been done and the vaunted loyalty and unity of the Jackals was broken.
Facing annihilation, the Jackals looked for allies, and found them in an old place that they had nearly forgotten. The Cult of Rhumal, fleeing from the Ivory Kingdoms, made its way to Medinaat al-Salaam. They too had suffered a humiliating and crushing defeat and needed time to recover. The two forces allied once again and began to recover their strength. Before the Jackals could solidify their power again however, the Ebonites took notice of their Rhumali allies who had gotten too confident and moved to crush them. The Monkey Man, knowing he could not stand against the Ebonites now, dropped all ties from the Cult, but the passing blow was still enough to nearly break the Jackals once more.
Hearing word of Rokugan and the Spider, the Jackals turned to less conventional allies, making inroads with Daigotsu and selling their information on the outside world for a good price. When word reached the Burning Sands of trouble in the Ivory Kingdoms, the old Jackals could feel the stirring of their ancient foe in the wind. They knew immediately that there was more to this event and began to take actions to stand against it. Several high ranking members of the Jackals, including the Monkey Man himself, travelled to Rokugan. Leaving the Jackals in the hands of Hadia and Talib. Two people that are diametrically opposed. Just a few years later the Monkey Man and Fatina returned, though the power of Talib and Hadia had both grown in their absence.
The death of the Monkey Man at the hands of the Ebonite Cassius was a terrible blow to the Jackals, who almost immediately fell upon one another in an attempt to gain command. Fatina struck first, securing the Soul of the Slayer and then warping even its foul magic in ways thought impossible before to create a beast that has never been seen before. If Hadia had not joined forces with a group of Rokugani Bloodspeakers that had infiltrated the city along with other rumored dark arts, Fatina would have won right there. After the Ebonite attack into the Sewers, the third leader in the war, Talib, was left devastated by the brunt of the fighting. With little force left, he decided to cut his losses and offered his services to Hadia, giving her a greater claim to legitimacy as the leader of the Jackals, though Talib’s less violent streak has put her at odds with her new lieutenant several times.
Future
Though the main Civil War within the city has come and gone, the bitter fighting of the Jackals continues and shows no sign of abating. For now many citizens of the city wish that the fighting in the sewers would end, so the ghul population would once again simmer. Those among the Order of the Ebon Hand however are content to let the fighting continue, because while the Jackals are focused on one another they are not focused on the people or the Ebonites.
Leaders
LieutenantFatina has been known by many names over the years, and one by one they have disappeared, leaving only the creature known as Fatina behind. What is known is that she joined the Jackals shortly after the Awakening, she looked to be a young woman then. As years passed and everyone else grew old, Fatina retained her youth and vigor, and whispers about her true nature began to grow. Some claimed Fatina was an ageless Ashalan, but she lacked their tattoos, others claimed she was a Khadi, but although her ability to control ghuls is almost without equal, she does not show their general aptitude for magic or their particular brand of cruelty. The Monkey Man knew the truth of what she is, but now the old man is dead.
The Monkey Man’s death pushed Fatina’s own plans along faster than she would have liked. Still, she had been in the best position to capitalize and took the Soul of the Slayer for herself and began to use it against her enemies, making loyal servants, as well as a new general for her forces. Her motives are as well kept of a secret as her origin is, though few doubt her willingness to go to any length to achieve her goals to achieve rule of the Jackals.
Lieutenant
Hadia has been a rising star amongst the Jackals since her arrival merely ten years ago. One of the various scum and villains that finds their way into the Jackals occasionally, Hadia showed a talent for knife work, word play, and a thirst for power. Hadia quickly became the leader of her cell when she overthrew the previous commander of the cell who was seen by many to be weak. Though her actions were not seen kindly by the Monkey Man, he allowed her a chance to prove her worth to the Jackals as a leader. She was given a mission to strike at the Ebonites, to kill a Templar who had shown potential at becoming a Principle. With a unique flare, she put her new cell to work competently and proved her worth by personally executing the Ebonite Templar and delivering his head to the Monkey Man.
Shortly after that, the Monkey Man and his greatest lieutenants left for Rokugan, leaving the likes of Hadia to climb the ranks more and more in their absence. Using her carefully cultivated contacts, she discovered several of the other cells and in a bold move, began to give them orders in the absence of the Monkey Man. She would have taken the Jackals for herself, if not for the resistance of Talib and his orphans. Many of her attacks and gathering information were still directed at the Ebonites, but as time went on her attacks became more vicious and directed towards the populace once more, specifically the Ruhmal refugee camps that were coming into the city. She and her cells began taking part in rituals to which no others were invited, but where human sacrifices and dark rituals are rumored to occur.
As her war with Fatina grew, it became apparent that Hadia was not up to the task of defeating her stronger and more entrenched rival. Faced with annihilation, she turned to a secretive cult from Rokugan known as Bloodspeakers to shore up her defenses. The dark alliance between these two has been immensely powerful, as they share secrets, and begin to prepare for something greater, something that may win Hadia the war.